The central legal point established in the judgment is that the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act cannot be compounded under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, and the inherent powers of the High Court cannot be invoked for compounding of offences in this case.

PAREED PILLAY, C.J.

Complaint in S.T. 2 of 1992 of the Court of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class-II, Alappuza is the revision petitioner in Crl. R.P. 16 of 1994. Revision petitioners in Crl. R.P. 1108 of 1994 are accused 1 and 2 in the same case.

2. For the sake of convenience the position of the parties as it stood in the trial Court is followed in the discussions here-under.

3. Petitioner filed the complaint against accused 1 and 2 alleging offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Learned Magistrate found accused 1 and 2 guilty of the offence and convicted and sentenced them to pay a fine of Rs. 1,500/ - each and in default of payment of fine to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month each. Conviction and sentence were confirmed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Alappuzha in Crl. A. 141 of 1993. Challenging the conviction and sentence accused 1 and 2 have, filed Crl. R.P. 1108 of 1994, whereas the complainant filed Crl. R.P. 16 of 1994 on the ground that the mandatory and statutory principles enunciated under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act in awarding the sentence was not followed by the Magistrate.

4. The cases were referred to the Division Bench of this Court to consider whether offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act can be compounded or not. Section 320(1), Cr.P.C. enumerates the cases which can be compounded by the persons mentioned in the 3rd column of the table without the permission of the Court. sub-Section (2) deals with cases where the compounding of offences require permission of the Court, sub-Section (9) postulates that no offence shall be compounded except as provided under the Section. As there is specific provision in the Criminal Procedure Code for compounding offences enumerated in the tables under Sections 320(1) and (2) and as sub-Section (9) makes the position crystal clear that no offence shall be compounded except as provided in the Section, any offence coming under a special enactment cannot be compounded under the provisions of the Code. In a case where a special enactment provides for compounding of offences it can certainly be done. If not, it cannot be done. Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act does not provide for compounding of the offence. So long as there is no specific provision for compounding of the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act the offence cannot be compounded by invoking Section 320, Cr.P.C.

5. Counsel for the accused submitted that the inherent powers of the High Court under Sec. 482 of the Code can certainly be invoked in this case as the entire amount due to the complainant has been paid and as the complainant itself is no longer alive. There is no merit in the above contention as the inherent powers of the High Court cannot be resorted to for compounding of offences, particularly when there is specific provision in the Code as envisaged under Section 320 for that purpose. There cannot be any doubt that the High Court possesses inherent powers under Section 482 and it has to be exercised to do real and substantial justice. Certainly, that power cannot be exercised in an arbitrary or whimsical manner. That power can be exercised only very sparingly to prevent abuse of process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice. That power cannot be exercised in a case where the amount due to the complainant has been paid subsequent to the initiation of criminal proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Having initiated criminal proceedings under Section 138, the offence cannot be compounded under the inherent powers of the High Court. As permission to compound the offences which are enumerated under Sec. 32(2) cannot be granted by the High Court in exercise of its inherent powers there cannot be any doubt that offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act can be compounded under S. 482, Cr.P.C.

6. The learned A